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How North Carolina Sparked Kings of Leon Drummer’s Love for City

Nathan Followill explains why the North Carolina Tar Heels sparked his love for Manchester City.

The Kings of Leon drummer has been a fan of the club for over 20 years and his love for the band has coincided with the band’s rise to become one of the most successful rock groups of their generation.



When asked where that passion came from, Followill cited our iconic 2004 Manchester derby victory, when City won 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

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However, he also added that our famous sky blue uniforms – a colour also worn by the University of North Carolina Tar Heels track and field team – were the deciding factor.

“Manchester City is the reason I fell in love with football. The City blue, it’s so beautiful,” he told mancity.com ahead of their recent performance at the Co-Op Live Arena.

“I cheered them on (in 2004) because they were the underdogs in that game, and I love a spoiler. They won, and you could hear the commentator saying, ‘That would have ruined United’s chance of winning it all.’

Image from the article:How North Carolina sparked the Kings of Leon drummer's love for the City

“I was like, even more amazing, and I fell in love with them (City). Every time we came back (to England), every time there was a City game, I would watch it or go to a pub.

“We came to Manchester and played our first show, I was wearing a City shirt and I realised half the crowd was cheering me on and the other half was throwing things at me.

“Luckily my drums were far enough back that the rest of the guys took the blows!

“Since then I’ve just been a City fan. I have kids now and they have their City kits and I just pass on my love to my kids.”

WATCH: City v Celtic: English and Scottish champions meet in North Carolina

City’s pre-season tour of the United States begins on Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) against Celtic at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

The reigning English champions will face our Scottish counterparts, both teams with a rich history and aiming for trophies in 2024/25.

It is the first of four friendly matches for Pep Guardiola’s men, giving fans the first chance to see the team since they won a record fourth consecutive top-flight.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE USA TOUR OF CITY

Followill expects City to receive an incredibly warm welcome at the 55,000-seater Kenan Stadium in what will undoubtedly be a thrilling match.

He added: “You will feel completely at home.

“Something tells me you guys are going to be North Carolina’s premier league team from that day forward.

“You win a whole state just because of the beautiful, beautiful blue.”

Kings of Leon formed in Nashville in 1999 and have since released nine studio albums, most recently Can We Please Have Fun from earlier this year.

But the four-time Grammy Award and two-time Brit Award winners will always point to England as the country that really boosted their careers.

And now, in 2024, Co-Op Live, the UK’s largest indoor arena, has sold out.

However, Followill will never forget their humble beginnings, and the importance of their English fanbase in those early years.

Image from the article:How North Carolina sparked the Kings of Leon drummer's love for the City

“We’ve been so lucky for 20 years, not only to be able to do this, but to be able to go to places where people actually want to see you and spend their hard-earned money to come and see you.

“I remember we did a show for probably 10,000 to 12,000 people, which was the biggest show for us at the time.

“We left there and arrived at Heathrow, and we took pictures with all the employees and thought ‘oh yeah, this is it.’

“And when we got back to Nashville, our mom was standing there all alone waiting for us to come down the escalator!

“England was the real maker of the kings of Leon.”

US TOUR 2024

City will take on Celtic, AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.

As always, mancity.com and the official app are the best places to learn all about the city during our stay in the US.

Our website and app offer fans a complete City experience, including pre-match press conferences and live open training sessions, as well as detailed and varied coverage of all our matches during and after the match, all in one convenient place.

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Our competitions are shown on both platforms in the following countries: United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Sweden and United Arab Emirates.

To access these matches from any of the above locations, you will need an active CITY+ subscription. The same restrictions apply to full match replays and Pitcam highlights.

For fans who don’t live in the countries mentioned, a detailed article explaining how to tune in will follow soon.

Subscribers can watch on the official app and mancity.com, with the option to cast matches to their TV from mobile devices. Find out how with our handy guide here.

For more information about CITY+, including subscription prices, click here.

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